Winter-velocipede.



'No. 659L826. Patented Ian. 28-, I902. B. C. TBUDELLE. I

WINTER VELOGIPEDE.

(Application filed June 21, 1901.)

I (Ila Modal.)

n I 1 II .lill

1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN O. TRUDELLE, OF BAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

-WlNTE R-VEL OCIPEDE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 691,826, dated January as, 1902.

Application filed June 21, 1901. Serial No. 65,417. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatLBENJAMIN O. TR DELLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Winter-Velocipedes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is a winter bicycle or velocipede; and the improvements consist in certain constructions and arrangements of the gearing whereby the position of the driving mechanismisvrendered interchangeablea'nd canbe easily and quickly attached to or detached from the frame of an ordinary bicycle or applied to a frame especially constructed for the purpose.

The objects of theinvention are to provide a simple mechanism having a vertically-yielding toothed driving-wheelthat can be adjusted to variouspositions between the runners to suit various conditions of road-surface and to adapt the bicycle for hill-climbing.

With these and certain other objects in view, which will appear further in this specification, the invention consists in the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichp,

Figure 1 is a side view of a complete bicycle] Fig. 2isa side view of the driving mechanism. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the driving mechanism. Fig. 4is aview of the driving mechanism seen from below. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the gear-supporting bracket. Fig. 6 is a rear view of the same. Fig. 7 is a side View of the arm carrying the drivingwheel. Fig. 8 is a detailof the swiveled bearing carrying the adjusting-rod. Fig. 9 is a top view of the bracket for carrying the upper end of the adjusting-rod. Fig. 10 is an end View of the same.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, the driving-gear consists in a main spur-gear 1,

'fixed to the crank-axle of the bicycle, a pin ion 2 meshing therewith and having a shaft 2 rigidly fixed thereto, said shaft being rotatably mounted in a bearing carried by the lower end of an arm 3, secured to the bicycleframe. The opposite end of the shaft 2 carries a gear 4, which meshes with a pinion 5, rigidlyattached to the spiked driving-wheel 6. Rotating the gear 1 revolves the driving- -5 5 wheel in the direction in which the bicycle is to move. t

In order to adjust the hei ht of the drivingwheel 6 and to enable it to yield vertically when overriding obstructions in an uneven load, I mount the wheel 6 in the following manner: An arm 7 is pivotally mounted at one end on a bearing 3*, carried by the lowerend of the arm 3. A bearing 7 at the other end of the arm 7 carries the shaft of the pin- 6 5 ion 5, which is thus held in mesh with the gear dby means of the arm 7 An upwardly-extending arm 8, fixed to the arm 7, carries at its end a swiveled bearing 9, through which passes an I upwardly-extending adj usting-rod 10. The upper end of the adj usting-rod is threaded and is screwed into a swiveled nut 11, carried-- by a bracket 12, clamped to the upper i'nem-i ber of the bicycle-frame. A collar 10%, se-

cured to the lower part of the rod 10, resists the thrust of a compressible spring 10*,which resists the upward thrust of the swiveled bearing 9, thus permitting the wheel 6 .to

override obstructions. In orderto beefiect ive for hill-climbing purposes, the best position for the driving-wheel is'that shown in, 1 full lines in Figs. 1 and 2; but, if desired, the driving-wheel can be changed to the po- I, sition shown in Fig. 1 to .suit the conven ience of the rider. To make the gears inter-.85 I 1 changeable, I provide a clamp-bracket 13on the rear fork of the bicycle-frame and a similar clamp 13 (shown in Figs. 5 and 6) on the front member of the frame. The lower end M of this bracket is'provided with a socket, into 1 which the upper end of the arm 3 fits and in I g which it is removably secured by means .ofa pin?) or in any other suitable manner. To. change the gearsinto the position shown by dotted 1ines in Fig. 1, it is onlynecessary to 5 remove the arm 3 from the socket of the I bracket 13 and to secure it in the socket of the bracket 13, reversing the position of the arm 7 and bringing the adjusting-rod 10 into the position shown in dotted lines. The 106 swiveled nut 11 permits the necessary movement of the rod 10.

While I have shown and described the device as applied to the frame of an ordinary bicycle, it may equally Well be adapted for use with any other form of frame by suitably varying the size and shape of the supportingarm 3 and of the clamp which supports it.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a velocipede the combination witha gearwheel rigidly mounted on the crankshaft; of a pair of sockets secured to the frame, one in front and one in the rear of the crank-hanger; a bracket removably secured to either of said sockets interchangeably; a vertically-movable arm pivoted to the lower end of said bracket; a train of gears carried by said bracket and arm, the first gear of said train being mounted at the pivotal junction of the bracket and arm,and meshing with the crankshaft wheel, and the last gear of said train being mounted at the outer end of the arm and operating a spiked driving-wheel; an upwardly-extending adjusting-rod yieldingly fixed at its lower end to the end of said vertically-movable arm, and secured at its upper end to the velocipede-frame, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

BENJAMIN 0. TRUDELLE.

Witnesses:

I. GOULD,

WILLIAM STEPHENS. 

